Random Encounters FFV
by Ysavvryl
Summary: The story of FFV as told by way of random encounters.  Let the battles begin!
1. Tule Countryside

_Most fanfics will follow a game's story by focusing on the major events, like boss fights and big turning points. Not this little drabble series of mine. Random Encounters tells the story by focusing on random encounters, the little stuff. As such, it will help a lot if you've already played the game._

_After doing the quite serious FFIV, I'm moving on to the less serious FFV. I'm playing the Anthologies PS1 version as I write this, so all names come from there._**  
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**Tule countryside**

The ground didn't look right; it was moving in spots, starting to crack. The trembling and groaning didn't help. Both man and chocobo were reluctant to go further into this narrow valley, as a rockfall could start up in seconds. And then a girl's scream came over the chaos.

That could not be ignored. "Let's go, Boko!" Bartz called, nudging his partner into action.

"Wark!" The chocobo lowered his head to race down the canyon. As they went along, the cracking ground crumbled, leading to dark holes that were of unknown depths. Boko was quick enough to jump over the weak spots before he tripped into them.

Just ahead, Bartz could see two fallen forms. Was that the pink-haired girl and the old man? How had they gotten ahead of him and Boko? However it had been done, they were now in trouble. He would help them out again, of course.

Four scrawny and leathery humanoids jumped down from the upper ledges of the canyon, in between the two groups. Bartz withdrew his broadsword. "Go for it!"

His chocobo raced past three of the imps, barreling into one and knocked it over. Bartz slashed his sword through the remaining monsters, cutting them down before they could attack. With them out of the way, Boko jumped over another pit, then slowed to a stop near the girl and old man.

The tremors had died off by then, leaving the valley silent and full of potholes. The traveler jumped off his chocobo and checked on the girl. Although she had some bruises and injuries, she was alive but unconscious. If she got a potion, had those wounds cleaned, and got some rest, she'd probably come out just fine. the old man seemed to be in the same state. They'd probably gotten ambushed by monsters; Bartz had been traveling for a long time and he knew how dangerous the wild lands could be.

Patting the neck of Boko, he said, "Let's get them out of this imp-infested place and take them somewhere quieter. I'll give you the old man; don't run and lose him."

The chocobo bobbed his head in agreement.

_If you think about it, 'random encounters' is a good way of describing how this game's party gets together when you start out._


	2. Pirate Hideout

**Pirate Hideout**

Her father had told her not to follow him. That was odd, because she had accompanied him to the Wind Shrine before. While she had left the castle before, she usually had a knight to help her along. And he was a formidable fighter, having been a hero in his youth. He should have been fine.

But Reina had a bad feeling about this time. The air had been strange the past week, tense and foreboding although there wasn't a storm around. As he had agreed, her father had set out for the shrine early yesterday morning. He should have been back by noon. She had watched the skies for all that afternoon. And then this morning, the wind had completely died.

So here she was, with two men she had met just today, watching as a rough-looking character in purple clothes looked around, then activated a hidden switch in the wall. Part of the cave wall popped open, letting him through. Once he was through, it shut tightly again. It blended in perfectly, showing no signs that it was a secret door.

"That's interesting," Bartz said softly, stepping back from the ledge. "We'll end up somewhere, but then…" He trailed off, seeming worried.

"It could get us to the Wind Shrine," Galuf said. "If this is what I think it is."

"What's that?" Reina asked, puzzled.

Before they could answer, a fourth voice piped up. "You smell pretty," the high pitched yet somehow male voice said.

Reina turned her head and saw a cave bat fluttering in the air near her. But there seemed to be no one. "Um, thanks."

"Can I suck your blood?" the voice said, this time clearly from the bat.

"What?" she asked, startled at the idea.

"That's a talking bat," Bartz said in a joking manner.

"I want to see if you're tasty as well," the bat said.

"Eewwwww, no!" Reina said, slashing out with her battle knife. The bat squealed and hurried to get away.

"You don't hear that as a pick-up line much," Galuf teased.

"Because it's horrid," she said, annoyed.

_Ah, the standard Cave Bat. Now with flirt mode!_


	3. Wind Shrine

**Wind Shrine**

There was a vital reason to be here. Something that could affect the fate of everyone, which could ruin or save a world. And he had to succeed this time. However, Galuf couldn't remember what that reason was, just that it was massively important. Maybe when he came to the Crystal itself, he would be reminded of why.

"Hurry up old man," Faris said, twirling his dirk in his right hand. "Even our little princess is movin' faster than you."

"Sorry, I'm just trying to remember what I'm doing here," he replied, slashing at a dark Moldwind to destroy it.

Most of the monsters in here were corruptions of the wind, which was worrisome. The Crystal should have the power to keep those creatures away, as it… sealed monsters away? The idea was hanging just out of thought, but he knew it should be there. At any rate, the fact that monsters were here meant that the Crystal wasn't working as it should. Instead, the element of Wind was being corrupted and these monsters were the result.

Which meant that he probably should hurry up and not try to figure things out now. He killed off another Moldwind, but the three younger folks were taking care of more monsters than him.

_Short dungeon, short drabble._


	4. Ship Graveyard

**Ship Graveyard**

It wasn't that she minded trudging through underwater hallways of partly sunken ships. In fact, she had been the one who taunted the three landlubbers about if they were daring enough to walk those ways. The water was cold and salty, and the waterlogged battered wood was dreadful for a sea-farer like her to see, but she was alive and determined to stay that way. And it wasn't that they had to fight the corpses of old sailors down here. That was to be expected, as some sea dogs never wanted to leave their vessel, with the exception of trips to a bar for rum. No, her problem right now was that water tended to make clothing stick to a body and these three still believed her to be a man.

Faris did have her little tricks to keep her male image. She could get through a short dunking in the water and being out on deck during a downpour. Between a water-resistant overcoat, wrapping her chest to keep her breasts down, and maintaining a gender-neutral appearance, she could handle most situations on the high seas. But this water was cold and the hallways were long. The overcoat could only take so much.

Somewhere in the water ahead, she spotted something that wasn't right. There seemed to be a shape in the water that moved out of sync with the normal flow. She put her hand on Reina's shoulder. "Watch yerself, miss," she said. "Thar be crystal slugs ahead; they look like the water, but ain't."

"Oh?" She looked around, soon finding the one. "Is that it?" She held her hand up, causing a yellow glow to form. Then a bolt of lightning shot through the slug Faris had seen and two more beyond it. While it didn't kill them, it caused their skin to turn a bit whiter, making them more noticeable.

"Aye," Faris said, finishing them off with her broadsword.

Bartz helped her defeat the other two. "You know, I've heard stories about other worlds where you can't walk and talk underwater at all," he said. "It's much easier to drown there."

"Is that so?" Faris asked. "Sounds mighty inconvenient."

"Other worlds?" Galuf asked, sounding confused again.

"They're just stories," Bartz said.

"Right, right." But the old man acted absent-minded and distracted after that.

_Not used to having a character with pirate-talk. Anyhow, the Ship Graveyard is a neat dungeon, traveling through parts of partly-submerged ships to get to shore. Odd for an early-game dungeon, but FFV does have nice dungeons. I would have said the passages were half filled with water, but then I noticed that you go downstairs several times during the underwater halls part. Those have to be completely full._

_Somebody needs to recruit this bunch for Blitzball!_


	5. North Mountain

**North Mountain**

When they emerged back outside, Bartz noticed the purple flowers growing in the mountain meadow. Those were familiar, in a bad way. "Watch out for those Devil Claws," he said to his companions.

"The what?" Reina asked, looking around for an enemy.

He pointed the nearest one out. "Those flowers. They look and smell nice, but they have tiny barbs that will stick into your skin and quickly poison you. Most people don't realize how deadly they are."

"This place be a strange one," Faris said, leading the group. She had the best armor at the moment, so she would take whatever enemy came at them first. "Pretty an' deadly."

"There's other places like that I've seen," he said. "Those stones might even mark the place of unwary travelers."

The others agreed and went by them quietly. It was a pair of rounded slabs of dark gray stones, with some markings that were indecipherable from the path. Near the tombstones, a gray tabby cat strolled around. It hopped on top of the markers and watched them. Then, as they passed nearest to the stones, the cat unexpectedly called out, "Fire!"

Bartz tensed and faced the cat, but it was the tombstones that were moving. Their markings shifted until stern faces emerged from them. In seconds, they were being pelted by rocks being spit out by the tombstones. Then the cat leapt into the air, spreading obviously fake green bat wings to glide over to them. Reina yelped and tried to hit it with her staff, but she still got clawed.

Being attacked by tombstones and a flying cat… as much as Bartz had traveled, he had to admit that this was new.

_Winged cat + tombstone is a pretty weird battle, but not too hard. The birds that can turn you to turn are the more dangerous enemies on North Mountain_


	6. Walz Tower 1

**Walz Tower 1**

The tower itself was narrow, a series of circular rooms stacked on top of each other. While it kept them from getting lost, each floor had monsters inhabiting it. Some hid under the water until they passed in range of an attack. And like the Wind Shrine, those living under the Water Crystal were corrupted forms of water.

On this floor, they had immediately seen the giant Elf Toad in the way. It was fat and squat, maybe chest high, but probably weighing more than Bartz did in his knight armor. The Elf Toad looked at them with blank eyes, then croaked. At that sign, three slender humanoid creatures came out from hiding by it. They were like the imps, scrawny and grotesque. But these creatures were far better armed, two with metal swords and armor, rather than wooden knives and leather vests. The third was wearing a tatty mage's robe.

"Watch out for that mage!" Galuf called out, getting ready to attack with his dirk.

"I'll get it," Reina said, starting to chant a spell. But the imp mage cast first, sending spikes of ice at them.

Faris took on the toad while Bartz slashed at one of the imp fighters on his way to attacking the mage. Galuf felt he could take out the imp running at him. Then again… he did his best to guard against the sword strike, then struck the imp's hand with his fist. Dropping its weapon, it yelped and tried to punch him. He stepped back so that it didn't have as much power, then stabbed it with the dirk. It soon crumbled into dirt, taking its armor with it.

But, the sword was still on the ground. He picked it up, noticing the other three had finished off the others. "Mythril sword?" he said, offering it to Bartz. As it was, the traveler would do best with it.

"Seriously?" Bartz took it and admired the bluish reflection the gray metal had. "Wonder how those imp creatures got it."

"Well it's yers now," Faris said. "Come on, we ain't found the Walz king yet."

"And I have a bad feeling about this place," Reina said. The Crystal was in danger.

_Actually, they're Ice Soldiers, not Imp Soldiers. Because they can use Ice. And yes, I did manage to steal two Mythril Swords and a Mythril Knife while running through Walz Tower. Nice stuff at this point in the game._


	7. Walz Seashore

**Walz Seashore**

Life was cruel, to give back a lost friend only to take him away permanently.

Faris watched the night sea. The star-filled black sky blended with the wave-filled black sea. On previous nights, she would have been on her ship, with the wind blowing her long purple hair into her face. But the Wind Crystal had shattered, killing the wind. And now the Water Crystal had shattered, deadening the water. Even though she could see ripples by the moonlight, they were shallow and spread out. In time, even the great ocean would be motionless. She could never sail the seas again.

Yet that was not the heaviest thing in her heart now. Hydra was gone, most definitely dead now. When he had gotten swallowed by the whirlpool in the canal, Faris felt that he could have survived. He was a dragon of the water after all. While its power had been formidable, her friend could have been resting to regain his wounds. But then he'd come immediately when Walz Tower sunk into the sea, saving them from being pulled too deep in the waters to survive. He'd always had a sense for when she was in trouble. Faris could remember when she'd been captured by a rival pirate crew last year, while her crew had been ashore. Although Hydra had been left with the ship, he found where the other pirates were dragging her back to their hideout. He came right up on land with such speed that he scared the majority of them off.

But this time, he should have stayed where he was hiding. They could have gotten to shore; Faris was certain that they could have done something once the initial shock was over. Instead, Hydra had come to her rescue again, making sure that they reached the safety of shore even though it ended up being the final straw for him. One shouldn't have to lose such a close friend because of loyalty.

"You doing all right?" Galuf asked, walking across the sands to her.

Considering how to answer that, she looked up from where she was sitting. The edges of the tides touched her boots. "More or less," she said, "considerin' my mate out there keeps toyin' with my heart an' that my whole life has gone bust with the Crystals doin' the same. I'm alive."

He smiled as he sat down by her. "Sometimes you have to appreciate the little things to get by."

For a little while, they didn't say anything. It was a quiet evening. The native Garulas were back to being shy and other monsters were wary after an entire peninsula had gone underwater. Why had that happened? She hadn't heard anything about the Water Crystal keeping that land above the sea. And could they do anything about the other Crystals?

She looked to the older man. "Ye remember anythin' after that bloke knew ye?"

He thought about it, staring off at the horizon. Then he shook his head. "Nothing substantial. I get images and ideas of things, but I don't know how to put it all together. I know I have a granddaughter, but nothing about her."

"Really? I thought ye was an old pop type."

"Hey!" Galuf said, in joking defense. But his smile faded quickly. "I know I got one because that Siren tried to lure me with her, like she did with Bartz' mother and Reina's father. But it didn't work because I didn't remember." He paused. "Actually, you were lured by the King's image too. Why?"

Because of something she still couldn't prove, Faris thought. "It's complicated," she explained, but that was all she would explain now.

_Actually, the side-plot with Hydra loses a bit of emphasis, I think, due to how closely together his two sacrifices are. It's kind of like IV's repeated sacrifices; the early ones are great, but then you just go 'again?'. Course, I may be getting dulled to this kind of thing after playing IV, II, and V in close succession. I would have liked it better if there'd been discussion about how sailing is impossible at this point and that's what Faris has done all her life._


	8. Fireship

**Fireship**

Although the ship looked normal on deck, it was a much different story deep within it. Metal replaced wood, the air was hot and dry, and monsters roamed the halls. Faris had taken care of a strange two-faced spirit with her sword, but there were still a pair of ghoul creatures. Or not ghouls, Galuf reflected, given that they smelled of coal. Were they made of coal dust? "I wouldn't use fire on these things," he said.

"They would burn," Bartz said, cutting through but not quite taking the dust monster out.

"They'd burn too well," he argued. "Unless you want to end up in flames."

"Ye can end up flamed faster by sayin' something unpopular in a pub," Faris said jokingly. Good, she was back on her feet quickly after Hydra's sacrifice. And she was killing things fastest, taking out the other dust monster.

Galuf finished off the other. "And bloodied, and broken-boned," he added.

"That's why you don't go picking fights with drunks," Bartz said with a smile. "I'd rather play the piano."

Reina was trying not to laugh. "Aren't we supposed to be the serious heroes out to save the world?" she asked.

"Who said?" the other three asked as one, setting each other to laughing.

At that, two strange robots dropped from the ceiling. "LAUGHTER IS UNAUTHORIZED."

That didn't stop them for a second.

_A case where it's good that video games don't follow real life physics. Those coal enemies could have torched the Fireship if heated enough and given a spark (corn dust will do the same thing, leading to a huge fireball)._

_The Mottletraps, the robotic dummies on wires, are yet another quirky enemy. They only show up after you've defeated everything else on the field._


	9. Karnak Castle

**Karnak Castle**

With the Fire Crystal shattered, Karnak Castle was a very different place. The walls were red with heat and the air rippled with it. The flames were not as common, but it felt like everything could erupt into a fireball at any moment. Since they had only been through here quickly in escaping a prison cell and now had to escape quicker, they were at a loss as to where to go.

They ended up in a room with many bookshelves; some of the books were smoking. "I think we need to head towards the back of the castle here," Reina said, trying to recall the few times she had visited this castle. "The hall should loop back to head for the entrance."

"Confusing layout," Bartz commented, but they were hurrying through the super-heated building to escape.

Without warning, the double doors they were headed for burst open. A lanky man with a large helmet burst into the room, accompanied by a pack of three green wolves. "Ah-ha, there they are!" he shouted. "Tear them to pieces!"

The four heroes had to counter the attacks of the wolves; Reina stayed behind the rest, readying a Bolt spell. She was afraid that a Fire spell would set off a chain-reaction inferno. "Ye fool," Faris growled, seeming like she wanted to use something harsher. "The castle's going to be destroyed and we all need to get out."

"I'll do my job, even if Hell itself invades the land," the strange solider said. He stopped, though, seeing how easily three of them had defeated his wolves. While Reina was able to hit him with Bolt, it didn't stop him… from backing up. "Stubborn, eh? I'll get you…" then he bolted back the way he came.

"Is he an idiot or a coward?" Galuf asked.

"Possibly both," Bartz said. "But he had to come in, so we might be on the right path out." And they kept running.

_It took me two tries to get through Karnak Castle while getting all the chests. The first try, the castle exploded halfway through the Iron Claw battle. And that Sargent enemy is puzzling when you run across him. He says 'Stubborn, eh?' and then runs away. From that, you'd think he was going to call on something stronger, like that Marissa character did on North Mountain._


	10. Library of Ancients

**Library of Ancients**

The library was a grand building on the outside and the inside. Walls were everywhere, made into shelves and filled with books. In contrast, there seemed to be little to the floors. They were narrow passages with railings on one side, vast shelves on the other, and rolling ladders almost in the way. When she looked over the railing, Reina could barely see the bottom level. Lamps sent arcs of light through the air, giving the whole place uneven lighting. It would be fascinating to study here, but given how many books were in here, it could take a lifetime to know everything this place had to teach.

Ahead of her, Bartz was checking on an empty space in the shelves. "There's a tunnel here to a backroom," he said. "It's got a low ceiling, though."

"And that's a problem how?" Galuf asked.

"Well if you don't have a problem with it, then ow!" In the middle of his sentence, a thick book fell off a higher shelf and hit him on the head. Bartz rubbed his head and looked up. "Who's dropping books on us?"

Reina nudged him. "Um, I think the book dropped itself."

"That's…" he looked down at their level and saw that the book was floating right by him. "That's weird."

"Those nerds musta been right about the possessed books," Faris said, bringing out her sword.

The book backed up and opened itself. A small figure popped up out of it, a weird hairy person wearing a fierce-looking tribal mask. "Wobba wobba wobba!" it shouted, stomping about. A strange melody played in the air and the next few minutes were a heated blur.

When Reina came back to her senses, she and her companions all had their weapons out. They were surrounded by a mass of torn pages falling through the air. And it felt like she'd been hit hard with something. "What just happened?" she asked, unable to remember herself.

"Argh, I don't remember," Faris said, grimacing from a bleeding cut on her arm. Reina went over to cure it for her.

"Something happened," Bartz added, but he sounded just as confused.

Galuf scratched near his beard. "I seem to have picked up a new Blue spell," he said, then cast it as an experiment. That strange flute melody played in response.

Both Reina and Faris tensed at hearing it again. Bartz braced himself, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Moon Flute," the old man said. "It casts Berserk on all foes. So that's what happened; we were all driven berserk by that book."

"Wait a sec, all foes?" Faris asked, raising her weapon.

Reina was about to ask why when half a dozen large possessed books tried to drop themselves on the party. Unable to knock them out in one blow, the books attacked.

_Library dungeons... I love 'em. This one is especially good because all the enemies are possessed books with silly pop-ups (if I hadn't done the tribal guy, I would have done the tick) and the bookshelves that move around. And it only gets better when you find Ifrit in here. Who decided that having a fire-based summon spirit live in an ancient library was a good idea?_

_Although, one scholar there tells you that they used to burn the possessed books with Ifrit's help. I would think they would rather have a being that could exorcise the books, not burn them._


End file.
